Comet SL9 Caused Outburst in Jupiter's Microwave Radiation
From the National Science Foundation.
COMET SHOEMAKER-LEVY CAUSED OUTBURST
IN JUPITER'S MICROWAVE RADIATION
During last July's impacts of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with
Jupiter, microwave emissions from electrons in the planet's
magnetic field--as measured by a global network of 11 Earth-
based radio telescopes--showed a dramatic outburst, according
to an article in the June 30 issue of Science. The outburst
may have been caused by a redistribution of the emitting
particles, and sheds light on the configuration of Jupiter's
magnetic field. Images from two radio telescopes--the National
Science Foundationsupported Very Large Array and the Australia
Telescope--showed that emissions were enhanced locally near
the planet's magnetic equator. The radio telescope network
was used to monitor Jupiter's microwave emission during the
impacts and to search for changes in radiation from the
planet's inner magnetosphere, the region around Jupiter where
charged particles are trapped by the planetary magnetic field.
Before the impacts, researchers had predicted the opposite:
the comet's dust would lead to a reduction in the planet's
radio emissions. "The highlight of the radio observations
instead was a dramatic increase in the radio flux density
during the six days of cometary bombardment," write the
authors, 27 collaborators headed by Imke de Pater, University
of California-Berkeley.
"The comet impact has provided us with a unique experiment
to unravel one of the outstanding issues in magnetospheric
physics: the energization and radial transport mechanism of
the energetic electrons in Jupiter's radiation belts," they
write. [For More Information, contact Lynn Simarski, 703 306-
1070]
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